A week after Enrique Delgado-Garcia was fatally injured at the Massachusetts State Police Academy, there is still an open question of who will investigate.
State police say the 25-year-old recruit was hospitalized last Thursday after being injured during a defensive tactics training exercise at the New Braintree facility. He died the following day.
The Worcester County District Attorney’s Office is looking for an outside agency to investigate the death of Delgado-Garcia, who previously worked for the office as a victim witness advocate.
An investigation is ongoing after the 25-year-old Massachusetts State Police recruit died last week, one day after authorities say he became unresponsive and suffered a “medical crisis” during a defensive tactics training exercise.
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Gov. Maura Healey was asked Thursday about the process.
“I feel terrible for Enrique and his family. What a tragic situation. As with any death, the DA’s office is going to be investigating,” the governor said. “The DA has to determine who is best positioned to investigate that, but that needs to happen, it need to happen quickly, so most importantly, the family has answers.”
Todd McGhee, a security analyst and former Massachusetts State Police instructor, says that incidents occurring at the state police academy are typically subject to internal affairs investigations.
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He said he is not aware of any other agency providing independent oversight of the state police.
“I have oversight,” Healey said Thursday. “I take that charge really seriously, because I want to make sure that for the public’s sake, we’re giving the very best to law enforcement, in terms of support, best training, best instruction, and it also goes back to why we’ve got to have this particular incident investigated, with answers, as quickly as possible.”
Trainee Enrique Delgado-Garcia died from injuries he suffered at the Massachusetts State Police Academy in New Braintree.
McGhee said he would expect federal authorities to take part in an investigation into Delgado-Garcia’s death.
“I’m envisioning that there might be involvement with the Department of Justice, perhaps the FBI may become the lead investigative agency, and that would not surprise me,” he said. “That seems to be the appropriate structure.”
Jessie Rossman, legal director for the ACLU of Massachusetts, also expects federal involvement.
“In the short term, this suggests that federal authorities may need to assume control of any investigation into these events,” she told NBC10 Boston Wednesday. “But in the long term, this also raises the broader question about why there is not a routine way to investigate potential MSP misconduct within the commonwealth.”
